1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to push recovery for a humanoid robot.
2. Description of Background Art
When subjected to a push, or force, a bipedal robot may need to take action to avoid falling. A push can occur, for example, when the robot bumps into an object or is tripped by debris or rocks. Possible actions to avoid falling after a push include the robot taking a step or otherwise moving its body.
It is useful for a robot to be able to determine what actions to take so that the robot will be able to recover from a push. For example, the robot can determine when and where to take a step. The robot should be able to determine the actions in a computationally efficient manner since the actions may need to be taken almost immediately after the push. The types of actions that can be taken include moving the Center of Pressure within the foot, accelerating internal angular momentum through lunging and “windmilling” of appendages, and taking a step.
However, determining actions to take is difficult because bipedal walking dynamics are high-dimensional, non-linear, and hybrid. Models of walking with simpler dynamics that approximate an actual robot can be used to allow for more computationally efficient determination of actions. Possible models include the Linear Inverted Pendulum (LIP) model and the Angular Momentum Pendulum Model (AMPM). However, the model should also be complete enough to accurately determine the actions.
What is needed is a method for efficiently determining actions to take to avoid falling after a push, including where to take a step.